Time
by musicalgenius
Summary: Time can be destructive, but can rebuild just as easily. Sakura's life has always been dictated by Time. Sakuracentric, with hints of SasuSaku


Hi everyone! I know it's been a while, but I was waiting for Inspiration to come. I think I've finally found it too. Just so that you all know, I will derive a little from the original Naruto plot line, and add my own little tidbits of information.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters that we all love to play with.

Time

Such a short word, but with great meaning. It can create great disasters, then smooth everything over as if nothing ever happened. Humans are slaves to it, and even though it may not be intentional, are ruled by it every day. They are haunted by the thought that there will not be enough Time, that Time will cause them to forget, that they will not have enough of it. It is often said that humans have learned to control Time, with schedules, and clocks, and calendars as well. But in the end, it is Time that always wins.

In Sakura's case, Time was something of a mystery. It did not seem to want to make its mind as to whether it wanted to cause her pain, or happiness. It all started when she was quite little. Losing her big sister to Sound caused quite a turmoil in her. On the negative side, she lost a sister to this terrible Shinobi nation. On the positive side, she was finally able to receive a little more attention from her parents, who had mostly given attention to their stronger eldest daughter, who was ANBU. After thinking this last however, she felt terrible, and felt the need to separate herself into two. The part of her who could have physically beaten her sister was locked away, and the quite, meek, but still incredibly smart part of her took prominence. This way, her sister would still be remembered for her great strength, and what she did, and Sakura would receive some attention from her parents. If Time had not indirectly killed Sakura's sister, and caused such turmoil, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Thus, Sakura's hidden strength and willpower was gone, in a flash. People seemed to sense this, and started to pick on certain things that usually they would have ignored. This is when Time gave Sakura a great favor. It just so happened that Ino was passing by, and defended as well as befriended Sakura. It seems that Time had a relapse of sanity that day.

The years passed, until Time decided to strike once against. He just had to make Sasuke pass at the exact time that both girls were there. This caused their friendship to break, and Sakura wondering if it was a good thing that she had locked her real self away. She couldn't turn to anyone about this, since no one knew about the two sides of Sakura Haruno.

The day that Sakura was to be assigned her teams was a hectic one. The name of the man who had killed her sister had just been announced: Orochimaru. Again, Time had dealt her a blow, with a decision to follow. She had to decide whether to unleash her true self, to quickly ascend to Chunnin, then to Jounin, then to ANBU, as to be able to hunt down that snake-bastard. But, her "Outer" self prevailed. Being a shy and meek person, made it so that she was worried to change because of what people would say. Sakura was also worried that she would lost the few friends she had, who wouldn't like the _real_ her, not the meek Sakura. She had always harboured true feelings for Sasuke, not only superficial ones. However, her "Outer" made her act as if her feelings were superficial.

Then came her first important mission in Mist. Her teammates were out there fighting, and constantly trying to protect her. For a moment, however, her _true_ self came out, and Sakura tried protecting their assigned man. However, it was in vain because Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi still finished the mission on their own.

The first step in Sakura's journey into becoming who she really is during the Chunnin exams, in the Forest of Death. What this showed Sakura is that what motivates her are her friends. Of course, her thirst of revenge was starting to crawl back up. Orochimaru was around. It would have been the perfect opportunity for her to kill him. However, because the revengeful, more assertive Sakura was locked up, she could only do minimal amounts. After this, Sakura's true nature was starting to come through.

The second, most important step was when Sasuke left the village for revenge. This is when Sakura felt that she could do no more with the nature that she had. She needed to step up, and become who she really is. Not necessarily a revenge-hungry monster (there are enough of those), but someone who can help her friends, as well as stand up for herself, and do good for her village. It is then that Sakura deciding to let her Inner self (which is her true self) come out. She deciding to choose a career that would showcase her abilities. This career was being a medic-nin. She started making great advances, and even become stronger than her mentor, Tsunade. Sakura had finally come out of her shell. Time had created many obstacles for her, and had made her face great difficulties. However, Time had also helped her acknolowedge her she true nature.

Quite a few years later after that fateful night where Inner and Outer Sakura became one, Time continued being inconsistent in what he wanted to do. He still created obstacles, but also helped Sakura overcome them. Because of Time, Sakura went through familial losses, new relationships, heartbreak, great apprenticeship, tearful reunions, miscarriages, and the joy of having your own child to hold. In a sense, Time is our friendly opponent.

So there it is! My first fanfic in (more or less) a year. There's not really a clear pairing, its more Sakuracentric. Reviews are always appreciated!

musicalgenius.


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